Features

The American songwriter Cole Porter wrote of loving "Paris in the winter, when it drizzles," but it's still autumn and there was little chance of Tour de France organisers ASO allowing the ever-blackening storm clouds caused by the Lance Armstrong affair to rain on the parade as they unveiled the route of next year's 100th edition of the race on Wednesday.

Uh-oh! The chain has come off at the start of a steep, chalky climb. So I stop – well, more ‘fall off’ because I was out of the saddle when it happened – and put the chain back on as a dozen riders on classic bikes sail past. I get onto the saddle again, stamp on the pedals and the chain immediately comes off for a second time. I take a closer look… and see that the inner chainring has actually snapped. Damn it! There’s a long way to go and a lot of climbs to scale in just the 53-tooth outer ring. This could be tricky.

As we stood by the roadside or sat in front of our televisions watching Jonathan Tiernan-Locke win the Tour of Britain on home turf, how many of us thought about the organisation which allows the race to take place safely? How long it takes to plan, and what those involved do? One aspect of this is how to make normally busy roads safe to race on.

There’s not many sports where you can play out with the best in the world. You can’t just have a kickabout by the garages with Lionel Messi, a quick nine with Rory McIlroy is unlikely, and you most probably can’t burn it up the by-pass with Fernando Alonso. Want to go for a bike ride with a Tour De France winner and Olympic medalist? No problem, come for a Ride With Brad.